Diki-Diki Recipe
Calvados with Swedish punsch and grapefruit juice: apple up front, then arrack funk, spice and a dry, gently bitter citrus finish.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Coupe glass
- ABV: 23%
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- Calvados45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Swedish punsch15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Grapefruit juice15 ml (0.5 oz)
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice.
- Shake until well chilled.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
Garnish
None
What it tastes like
It smells of lemon and lime peel and fruit notes come forward.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A stemmed, shallow coupe. The stem keeps your hand's warmth away from the drink, and the wide bowl carries the aroma to your nose. Served without ice.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Calvados
- Normandy's apple brandy. It is distilled from cider, not from juice, so it is dry and earthy rather than sweet — dry cider is not a substitute for it.
- Grapefruit juice
- Grapefruit juice. Pink is sweet and soft, white is bitter and sharp — when a recipe does not say which, pink is the safer call.
The Story
Published by Robert Vermeire in his 1922 London book "Cocktails: How to Mix Them", where he says he named it after Diki-Diki, the chief of a small island in the southern Philippines.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Diki-Diki mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a coupe.
- How strong is a Diki-Diki?
- Roughly 23% ABV as served — in fortified-wine territory — plan it as a single drink.
- Can a Diki-Diki be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Diki-Diki hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.